LOWER LAKE — Luke Hoogendoorn pitched a three-hitter and went 3-for-4 with four runs scored as the Middletown Mustangs beat the Lower Lake Trojans 12-0 in the North Central League I varsity baseball opener for both teams Friday afternoon in Lower Lake.
Middletown (1-0 league, 2-6 overall) led 7-0 after four innings and tacked on five insurance runs in the top of the seventh, not that Hoogendoorn needed them. The senior, who is also playing golf for the Mustangs during the spring sports season, struck out nine and walked none.
“He really hit his spots,” Middletown head coach Tyler Holt said of Hoogendoorn. “He was painting the corners perfectly. He threw great.”
Middletown took all the excitement out of this one early, scoring twice in the top of the first inning and adding single runs in the second and third before tacking on three more in the fourth. Hitting up and down their lineup, the Mustangs recorded 19 hits, including four doubles and a triple.
“The game went great, everyone was hitting,” Holt said.
Middletown’s defense also contributed with an error-free afternoon. The Mustangs also threw out Lower Lake runners at the plate and at third base.
“Our defense was great today,” Holt said.
Bryan Riehl led the hit parade for the Mustangs, going 4-for-5 with a double and three RBIs. Hoogendoorn and Noah Williams (3-for-5, double, 2 RBIs, two runs) finished with three hits apiece, Zach Dubois doubled twice and drove in two runs, and Micah Dymer (2-for-4) tripled. Hunter Hartzog also had two hits.
Lower Lake (0-1, 1-2) statistics were not reported.
Middletown travels to Cloverdale while Lower Lake hosts St. Helena on Tuesday when league play resumes. Both games start at 4 p.m.
In other NCL I openers Friday:
Kelseyville 7, Cloverdale 6
At Kelseyville, Joey Gentle drew a four-pitch walk with no outs and the bases loaded to force in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh, lifting Kelseyville to a hard-earned victory over the Cloverdale Eagles at Lloyd Larson Field.
Kelseyville (1-0, 3-5) surrendered a 6-1 lead after five innings as Cloverdale scored twice in the top of the sixth and three times in the seventh to tie the game.
Pinch-hitter Jake Burke singled into right field to open the Kelseyville seventh and Colin Jensen, who Burke was pinch-hitting for, came in to pinch-run. Tyler Bryant’s bunt single, intended to be a sacrifice, was so well placed that is moved the speedy Jensen all the way around to third. Cloverdale intentionally walked Jake Keithly, who was 2-for-2, to load the bases for Gentle, who also stepped to the plate 2-for-2 on the day with two RBIs. Four pitches later the game was over.
“A walk-off walk for the win,” Kelseyville head coach Billy Shaul said.
Kelseyville starting pitcher Zayne Barker worked into the seventh inning before Jon Dougherty came on in relief.
“He looked fatigued after the sixth,” Shaul said of Barker. “The two errors we made in the sixth didn’t help him. Both of those runs were unearned. I probably should have pulled him after the sixth.”
Things got downright scary for Shaul and the Knights in the seventh. Cloverdale’s first two batters reached against Barker at which point Dougherty came on. The sophomore gave up a single to load the bases and then walked in a run as the Eagles closed to 6-4. Dougherty retired each of the next three batters on groundouts but the first two drove in runs that tied the game.
“He got those three groundouts in a row to get us out of the inning,” Shaul said.
Kelseyville overcame six errors in the field to win its league opener.
“We gave them plenty of opportunities,” Shaul said of the Eagles.
The difference was Kelseyville’s ability to hit with men in scoring position, according to Shaul.
“We got hits with people on base and we used our speed well on the bases,” he said.
Cloverdale went up 1-0 in the top of the second but Kelseyville answered with three runs in the bottom half. The Knights added single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to boost their lead to 6-1.
Gentle, Keithly, Bryant, Kyle Watkins and Brock Barrick had two hits apiece for the Knights, who return to action Saturday with a home non-league doubleheader against Arcata beginning at noon. Kelseyville’s next league game is Tuesday against Clear Lake in Lakeport at 4 p.m.
Willits 4, Clear Lake 3
At Willits, Clear Lake scored a run in the top of the seventh but left the potential tying run at third base in a league-opening loss to the Willits Wolverines.
“Tough game,” Clear Lake coach Ed Pepper said. “All the way through our bats were struggling. We had plenty of opportunities to put the ball into play.”
Maddox Albaum’s RBI groundout in the top of the seventh closed the gap to 4-3. Clear Lake had runners at the corners when the game ended on a comebacker to the mound.
“We tried but couldn’t do it,” Pepper said of his team’s attempted seventh-inning comeback. “One bad inning took the life right out of us.”
The bad half inning Pepper was referring to occurred in the bottom of the fifth with Clear Lake leading 2-1. Albaum, who relieved starter Ethan Maize with one out in the fourth, ran into trouble right away with a leadoff walk although that runner was cut down trying to steal second base by catcher Drake Smart, who threw out two would-be basestealers on the day. But Albaum then loaded the bases with a walk, a hit batsman and another walk. He struck out Willits’ No. 7 hitter for the second out of the inning and was on the verge of getting out of the jam unscathed when his 2-1 pitch to the No. 8 hitter was hit to the wall in left-center field. The deep flyball was dropped and all three runners scored to give the Wolverines a 4-2 lead.
“It should have been caught,” Pepper said.
Clear Lake threatened in the top of sixth, getting its leadoff batter aboard, but came away empty.
Hank Ollenberger, the third Clear Lake pitcher, worked a scoreless bottom of the sixth.
Cody Hayes went 2-for-3 and Jacob Horne went 1-for-2 with two RBIs for Clear Lake.
Maize worked 3 1/3 innings in his no-decision, allowing eight hits ane one run while striking out four and walking one. Albaum, who took the loss, went 1 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking three.
The Cardinals host Kelseyville on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
